Assistance Locating Stolen Items Belonging to Commander Steve Kona

[mjone062]

Hello.  I work in the museum field as a historian and educator but I am not a collector myself.   I am attempting to assist a friend in locating stolen items from his father's (Commander Steve Kona) service as a naval aviator.  Quick story and summary of the fuzzy facts I think I know...

 

Prior to his passing in the early 2000s, items relating to Commander Kona's service were retained within the family by one of his sons, himself a naval officer.  During a military move from Charleston SC to Williamsburg VA (around 1990) all items relating to Commander Kona's service were boxed up separately from other household goods and stolen.  I do not know at what point the son realized that his father's items were stolen but I am under the impression that he chalked it up to an embarrassing loss and did not pursue it or tell any of the family.  Fast forward to the mid 2000s...  another one of Commander Kona's sons, my friend (himself a retired sailor), receives a call from an unknown Washington DC number.   Turns out it is a collector at show (not sure if it was a memorabilia or gun show) inquiring about the provenance of a samurai sword from the postwar occupation of Japan linked to Commander Kona.  Needless to say, my friend was shocked.  A quick call to his brother disclosed the whole sad story.  Luckily my friend was able to purchase the sword from the collector.  Anyways... all this recently came up in a conversation and I said I would try to see what else of his father's service items might be recovered.  We are not even sure what all of the items taken were (outside of his father's fight jackets) but Commander Kona's career makes it seem that his service items may be of a highly collectable nature (see information on service below). 

 

In the course of my work, I have learned lots of information over the years from your community that I am not sure I would have found otherwise.  I am humbly asking for any research ideas, tips, tricks, or leads that you could provide. Thanks.

-Matthew     

 

Commander Steve George Kona

 

AVCAD Elimination Base Training. Glenview, IL.  Mar 1941-Apr 1941

AVCAD Training. Jacksonville, FL. Apr 1941-Aug 1941

Flight Training. NAS Pensacola, FL. Aug 1941- Dec 1941

Advance Flight Training. NAS Miami, FL. Dec 1941-Jan 1942

Carrier Air Group -10 Formation. San Diego, CA. Mar 1942-May 1942

VF-10. USS Long Island Jun 1942-Jul 1942

VF-10.  USS Enterprise.  Jul 1942-Apr 1943 *Included a stint as part of the Cactus Airforce on Guadalcanal*

VF-31. Carrier Air Group Formation. Atlantic City, NJ. May 1943

VF-31. Atlantic City, NJ. May 1943-Aug 1943

VF-31. USS Charger. Aug 1943- Sep 1943

VF-31. USS Cabot. Sep 1943- Nov 1944

NAS Melbourne, FL. Dec 1944- Apr 1944

NAS Jacksonville, FL. Apr 1944- Oct 1947

PB4Y-2 Transition, NAS Corpus Christi, TX. Nov 1947-Jul 1948

VP-28. NAS Barbers Pt, HI. Jul 1948-Dec 1950

General Line School. Monterey, CA. Jan 1951-Dec. 1951

Bureau of Aeronautics. Washington D.C. Jan 1952-Jan 1954

Jet Aircraft Transition. NAS Kingsville, TX. Feb 1954-Apr 1954

C.O. VF-74.  USS Lake Champlain.  May 1954-Jun 1956

Air Operations Officer. USS Forrestal. Jul 1956- Aug 1958

Asst. Operations Officer, NAB. NAS Jacksonville, FL. Aug 1958-1961

FCPC. Dam Neck, VA. Nov-1961-1968

 

Decorations, Medals, and Awards

Distinguished Flying Cross

Air Medal (2)

American Defense Service

National Defense (1 star)

Asiatic- Pacific Campaign (8 stars)

Command at Sea Insignia

World War II Victory

Navy Occupation Service with Asia Clasp

Presidential Unit Citation (3)